Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron has again reshuffled his starting line-up for the third and final match against Argentina Under-20 on Saturday at City Park in Crawford, Cape Town.
The South Africa Under-20’s have already clinched the three-match series between the two countries after posting comprehensive 78-31 and 60-14 victories respectively over the visitors.
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The friendly internationals are part of both teams’ preparations for the 2014 Junior World Championship (JWC) to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 2 to 22 June.
Several players who started for the Junior Springboks against the Los Pumitas in Stellenbosch on Tuesday were not available due to the Vodacom Cup semi-finals this weekend, which involves the Steval Pumas, GWK Griquas, Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Golden Lions.
Theron has only retained five players for the clash on Saturday, all of whom are in the backline. Fullback Jesse Kriel will again wear the No 15 jersey, while the powerful centre pairing of Dan Kriel and Andre Esterhuizen also remains intact.
Theron has also opted to start once more with the halfback duo of Jean-Luc du Plessis (flyhalf) and JP Smith (scrumhalf).
The reshuffled pack consists of players who have all participated in the two previous encounters with the visitors, either as part of the starting line-up in Saldanha or as replacements in Stellenbosch.
Commenting on his team’s goal for the final match, Theron said: “We want to build on the momentum gained in the previous matches. I would also want to see us maintain or even improve our tempo of play.”
The SA U20 coach said there was still hard work ahead for the squad to fine-tune their preparations.
“The coaches would really like to see the players work on improving their decision-making on attack and defence, as well as at the breakdowns,” explains Theron.
The friendly international kicks off at 16:00 SA Time.
Junior Springbok team:
15 – Jessie Kriel (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
14 – Sergeal Petersen (EP Kings)
13 – Dan Kriel (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Cell C Sharks)
11 – Duhan van der Merwe (SARU contracted)
10 – Jean-Luc du Plessis (Cell C Sharks)
9 – JP Smith (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
8 – Aidon Davis (EP Kings)
7 – Jean-Luc du Preez (Cell C Sharks)
6 – Victor Sekekete (Golden Lions)
5 – Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
4 – Abongile Nontonkwane (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
3 – Wilco Louw (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
2 – Corniel Els (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
1 – Pierre Schoeman (Vodacom Blue Bulls)